3 journalers for this copy...
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Journal Entry 1 by caldron from Brisbane, Queensland Australia on Tuesday, October 12, 2004
 Cosmopolitan says that this book is "a (sic) hilarious black comedy . . . a writer who can combine Le Carre-esque shenanigans with jokes about dental floss"
Me, I read it years ago and am now releasing it . . . apparently it's out of print.
Enjoy!
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Journal Entry 2 by caldron from Brisbane, Queensland Australia on Tuesday, October 12, 2004
to be released at the Brisbane MeetUp, 13th October 2004.
(ps - I am releasing the Vintage paperback film-tie-in edition)
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Journal Entry 3 by jawin from Launceston, Tasmania Australia on Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Caught at the Brisbane meet-up tonight.
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Journal Entry 4 by jawin from Launceston, Tasmania Australia on Sunday, December 25, 2005
This got mislaid when moving house and surfaced only recently.
Bored (and boring) thirty seven year old, work-avoiding British layabout inherits his father's company only to find it on the verge of bankruptcy. He cheats on long time girlfriend, who is desperately hearing her biological clock. Then he gets involved with the Russian underworld in an attempt to save his failing business and pay back the money supposedly owing to the taxman.
The author has several promising themes to work with here, but fails on all counts. This didn't work for me on any level. Make no mistake, it is awful. The narrative and characterisation are simply dreadful; it was not funny; the Russian mafia stuff was unbelievable; and the sex puerile and blokish. Contrived, silly and rather boring and, worse still, badly written and ungrammatical.
The back cover blurb compares this to 'a cross between Tom Sharpe and John Le Carre', and with 'the black humour of Carl Hiassen'. Big shoes - and Hawes certainly goes nowhere near filling them. 'The funniest British novelist writing today' the blurb goes on. The reviewer clearly needs to get out more.
I don't know. Lately I seem to be totally missing the point of many very hyped novels. I'm not sure if it is me - perhaps I am getting old(er) and (more) curmudgeonly. Or perhaps they are just crap.
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Journal Entry 5 by jawin at Sherwood Post Office Sherwood Road Sherwood in Sherwood, Queensland Australia on Sunday, May 07, 2006
Released 6 yrs ago (5/7/2006 UTC) at Sherwood Post Office Sherwood Road Sherwood in Sherwood, Queensland Australia WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Posted this book (together with 12 others) to linguistkris c/- the very remote Timber Creek settlement in the Northern Territory of Australia for her entertainment (and to save her having to bring books from Europe!)
Kris is working with the aboriginal community at Yarralin, researching and recording language, history and culture (and hoping to see a crocodile in the wild!).
Mailed at the Post Office Sherwood Road Sherwood Brisbane Queensland Australia at 9.10am Monday 08 May 2006.
To see where Timber Creek is, click on the above map. Look on the left hand side about half way up to find Kununurra... about two inches to the right you will see Timber Creek. This is the nearest place to where Kris will be that gets a mail delivery. She may get to the settlement once or twice a month.
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Journal Entry 6 by linguistkris from Solingen, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Sunday, May 28, 2006
Collected this along with its mates from the Timber Creek supermarket/post office today. Thank you so much, this is very much appreciated!
Btw, I have always wanted to get my hands on a book with one of those beautiful Tess Garman labels -- the most beautiful, to my mind, that the supply store ever had!
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Journal Entry 7 by linguistkris from Solingen, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Friday, June 16, 2006
While I am thankfully far from being an affluent 37-year-old London professional obsessed with flossing, I actually quite enjoyed this book! I can't say I found it very believable, but the style, whether internal monologue or third-person in scenes, I quite enjoyed. A bit camp, but quite intentionally so, I should think. It certainly was good to read something light and silly and so far removed from life in a remote part of the Top End. Actually got me curious about the movie, but that might just be too much action and sex to live up to the book?
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Journal Entry 8 by linguistkris from Solingen, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Tuesday, July 18, 2006
At the disposal of Candide and Philip now.
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Rancid Aluminum
